

HCL AppScan and Qualys Web Application Scanning are two key players in the web application security market. HCL AppScan is favored for its advanced feature set, low false-positive rate, and seamless integration with agile processes, whereas Qualys offers superior scalability, management, and compliance-oriented solutions.
Features: HCL AppScan is praised for its thorough detection of web vulnerabilities, customizable rules, and effective integration with developer workflows. It supports both static and dynamic testing and maintains a user-friendly interface. Qualys Web Application Scanning excels in real-time monitoring, comprehensive reporting, and strong external penetration testing capabilities, making it ideal for organizations with strict compliance requirements.
Room for Improvement: HCL AppScan users desire better CI/CD pipeline integration, enhanced language support, and further reduction in false positives. Qualys users request an improved user interface, better crawling capabilities for deeper testing, and more advanced authentication options for real-time scanning.
Ease of Deployment and Customer Service: HCL AppScan primarily supports on-premises deployments, catering to environments needing extensive internal integration. Users report mixed experiences with technical support post-IBM transition. Qualys Web Application Scanning allows flexible deployment across hybrid and cloud environments and consistently receives positive feedback for its responsive customer support and faster resolution times.
Pricing and ROI: HCL AppScan is considered expensive yet offers a good ROI through reduced vulnerabilities and cost savings. Qualys Web Application Scanning has negotiable pricing with competitive licensing options, appealing to larger buyers, and also shows positive ROI despite cost considerations. Both solutions deliver effective security management that justifies their price points.
Veracode provides excellent assistance and regularly scheduled calls to address customer concerns and updates.
There is still room for improvement when it comes to the speed of response.
They have various options in the vulnerability management process, and when we initially bought our license, we didn't realize we needed PCI for better results, which isn't included in the default configurations.
I have dealt with Qualys's technical support, and any enhancements are challenging.
Once we purchase the license, we have access to top-notch support.
It produces similar vulnerability results as other tools such as Nessus based on version checks instead of real impact checks.
It is licensed for assets, so we just contact the team for additional licenses if needed.
At one point, there was a limitation on reporting for 100,000 assets at a time.
Since we've been using HCL AppScan for about three months, we really have not encountered a false positive.
Currently, you can find out the components belonging to a specific software, but if detailed reporting became available, you would be in a better position to identify vulnerabilities.
Qualys Web Application Scanning does IP-level testing, requiring direct input of credentials, and can only scan a few pages to provide known generic vulnerabilities.
With the growing reliance on AI, Qualys Web Application Scanning should be updated to handle AI-based applications and LLM-based attacks.
I would like it to be cheaper because it is a bit expensive compared to competitors like Tenable Nessus.
Companies often choose based on budget constraints, with Veracode being on the higher end cost-wise.
They offer discounts on bulk licenses, making it cheaper compared to competitors like Veracode DAST.
I find it a bit expensive compared to other competitors.
Regarding pricing, I think for personal use, it is costly, but if organizations are ready to pay, then it is fine as they are using it.
We were able to identify security issues such as certificate-related issues, authentication-related issues, and weak encryption-related issues.
AppScan's most valuable features include its ability to identify vulnerabilities accurately, provide detailed remediation steps, and the newly introduced AI-powered features that enhance its functionality further.
It effectively detects vulnerabilities like the OWASP Top 10 without any issues in reporting.
The product helps by providing options for remediating vulnerabilities it finds, making it really useful.
The advantage of Qualys Web Application Scanning lies in its user-friendly dashboard and appealing reports, which are useful for presentation to leadership.
| Product | Market Share (%) |
|---|---|
| Qualys Web Application Scanning | 1.8% |
| HCL AppScan | 2.3% |
| Other | 95.9% |


| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 14 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 31 |
| Company Size | Count |
|---|---|
| Small Business | 8 |
| Midsize Enterprise | 6 |
| Large Enterprise | 27 |
IBM Security AppScan enhances web application security and mobile application security, improves application security program management and strengthens regulatory compliance. By scanning your web and mobile applications prior to deployment, AppScan enables you to identify security vulnerabilities and generate reports and fix recommendations.
Qualys Web Application Scanning (WAS) is a fully cloud-based web application security scanner. The scanner will automatically crawl periodically and test web applications to discover potential vulnerabilities, including cross-site scripting (XSS) and SQL injection. The consistent testing equips the automated service to generate consistent results, lessen false positives, and offer the ability to scale to protect thousands of websites effortlessly.
Qualys Web Application Scanning is bundled with different scanning technology to carefully scan websites for malware infections and will send notifications to website owners to assist in preventing blacklisting and brand reputation damage. As digital transformation takes place in various organizations, Qualys WAS gives organizations the ability to track and document their web app security status through its interactive reporting capabilities.
Qualys WAS empowers organizations to remediate any web application vulnerabilities quickly. Some of the key tools offered are:
Benefits of Qualys Web Application Scanning
Qualys Web Application Scanning offers many benefits, including:
Reviews from Real Users
Qualys Web Application Scanning stands out among its competitors for a variety of reasons. Two of those reasons are its progressive scan and quick detection of vulnerabilities.
P.K., a senior software developer at a tech vendor, writes, "The feature that I have found most valuable is the progressive scan. It is good. It's done in 24 hours."
Nagaraj S., lead cybersecurity engineer at a tech service company, notes, "I have found the detection of vulnerabilities tool thorough with good results and the graphical display output to be wonderful and full of colors. It allows many types of outputs, such as bar and chart previews."
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